Saturday, February 09, 2013

Through Friday, February 8th, Iraq Body Countcounts 122 deaths from violence in Iraq so far this month. Alsumaria reports a Mosul roadside bombing injured one federal police officer. All Iraq News reports the wounded toll has risen to three federal police officers.

Meanwhile the protests continue to grow. What was "hundreds and hundreds" in December turned to "thousands and thousands" in January and is now millions. Kitabat reports that yesterday some protesters in Anbar Province announced their intent to march to Baghdad next Friday. All Iraq News notes National Alliance MP Qasim al-Araji is calling out the plan to stage a sit-in in Baghdad. The Ministry of Interior (run by Nouri al-Maliki since he never nominated anyone to head it) had its own announcement. Alsumaria reports that today it was declared their intent to crack down on any protest -- anywhere in the country -- that they felt was a threat or lacked a permit. Al Mada notes that the spokesperson for the Anbar protests, Sayad Lafi, states that the protesters have written Baghdad seeking permission to pray in the city on Friday and return the same day. On protests, Liz Sly had a very good report for the Washington Post yesterday. (It went up late at the website Friday -- we note it in yesterday's snapshot -- and makes the print version today.) The report has been picked up by Ya Libnanand by the San Diego Union-Tribune. From her report:

The Friday protests have also drawn huge crowds in towns and cities
across the Sunni provinces, as the passions of the Arab Spring collide
with the bitter legacy of the Iraq War.

The demonstrations first erupted in December in response to the
detention of the bodyguards of a Sunni minister in Maliki’s coalition
government, which reinforced widespread Sunni perceptions he’s intent on
eliminating his Sunni political rivals. But they have evolved into a
far deeper expression of the many grievances left unresolved when U.S.
forces withdrew a little over a year ago, ranging from abuses committed
disproportionately against Sunnis by the Iraqi security forces to what
Sunnis perceive to be an unequal distribution of power among the sects.

With their huge turnouts, these largely peaceful demonstrations have the
potential to present a far bigger challenge to Maliki’s hold on power
than the violent and still stubbornly persistent insurgency, which
continues to claim scores of lives every month without any discernible
impact on the political process.

In recent weeks, large and frequent demonstrations
across the Sunni areas of Baghdad and in the cities of Ramadi, Mosul,
Samara and Tikrit, have demanded improved living conditions, an end to
government discrimination against former Baathists, and a nullification
of the de-Baathification laws. Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni deputy prime
minister echoing others, has demanded the resignation of the Nuri
al-Maliki’s government. And the Sunni speaker of parliament, Osama
al-Nujaifi, in January called for an amnesty law to free Sunnis detained
on what Sunnis say are discriminatory charges of terrorism.

The prime minister, while releasing some female
prisoners, has called for the demonstrations to cease in the interest of
national security. He is bolstered by counter-demonstrations demanding
the maintenance of the status quo, and rightfully expressed fears of any
Baathist return to power.

Mr. al-Maliki has had an historic opportunity to
unify Iraq and move it forward economically. He may still have time, but
he must start by ending the violence and changing his own policies,
including the use of authoritarian and undemocratic methods to govern.
Iraqis have suffered too much.

In other news, the Iraq Times reports a man has been arrested in Erbil for the rapes of 14 young girls. AFP quotes the head of the Kurdish security forces, Tareq Nuri, stating, "Some families kept the subject of the rapes to themselves because of the conservative traditions of the city." The girls were all between the ages of 6 and 9-years-old, All Iraq News notes, and many were badly beaten. This as Al Mada notes that Simon Dawud and the man she was with have been arrested. The young Yezidi girl was kidnapped, the family insisted creating an international scandal, their eleven-year-old daughter taken by some strange man. But Rudaw reported days ago that Simon stated she was 15 and that she left to get married to a Sunni Muslim. She told Rudaw, "I voluntarily escaped [my family] and decided to run away with Hassan Nasrulla. I told him, if you don't take me with you I will create big trouble for you. Then he was left with no choice but to take me. I am 15 years old." The law requires her to be 16 to marry so her elopement with Nasrulla may be in doubt. She escaped her family, she told Rudaw, because they were attempting to force her into an arranged marriage. Now Al Mada reports that she and Hassan Nasrulla have been arrested. All Iraq News notes that female MPs are calling for an end to violence against women in Iraq and for Iraqi women to lead the way out of the political crisis by solving the problems that the male officials have thus far failed to.

The number killed and wounded vary but all outlets are reporting on an attack on the former residents of Camp Ashraf. Trend News Agency says 10 dead and over one hundred injured. Prensa Latina reports, " A rain of self-propelled Katyusha missiles hit a provisional camp of
Iraqi opposition Mujahedin-e Khalk, an organization Tehran calls
terrorists, causing seven fatalities plus 50 wounded, according to an
Iraqi official release." Who are these people targeted?

Approximately 3,400 people were at Camp Ashraf when the US invaded Iraq
in 2003. They were Iranian dissidents who were given asylum by Saddam
Hussein decades ago. The US government authorized the US military to
negotiate with the residents. The US military was able to get the
residents to agree to disarm and they became protected persons under
Geneva and under international law.

Despite that legal status and
the the legal obligation on the part of the US government to protect
the residents, since Barack Obama was sworn in as US president,
Nouri has ordered not one but two attacks on Camp Ashraf resulting in
multiple deaths. Let's recap. July 28, 2009
Nouri launched an attack (while then-US Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates was on the ground in Iraq). In a report released this summer
entitled "Iraqi government must respect and protect rights of Camp Ashraf residents,"
Amnesty International described this assault, "Barely a month later, on
28-29 July 2009, Iraqi security forces stormed into the camp; at least
nine residents were killed and many more were injured. Thirty-six
residents who were detained were allegedly tortured and beaten. They
were eventually released on 7 October 2009; by then they were in poor
health after going on hunger strike." April 8, 2011,
Nouri again ordered an assault on Camp Ashraf (then-US Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates was again on the ground in Iraq when the assault
took place). Amnesty International described the assault this way,
"Earlier this year, on 8 April, Iraqi troops took up positions within
the camp using excessive, including lethal, force against residents who
tried to resist them. Troops used live ammunition and by the end of the
operation some 36 residents, including eight women, were dead and more
than 300 others had been wounded. Following international and other
protests, the Iraqi government announced that it had appointed a
committee to investigate the attack and the killings; however, as on
other occasions when the government has announced investigations into
allegations of serious human rights violations by its forces, the
authorities have yet to disclose the outcome, prompting questions
whether any investigation was, in fact, carried out." Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observes
that "since 2004, the United States has considered the residents of
Camp Ashraf 'noncombatants' and 'protected persons' under the Geneva
Conventions."

The
Secretary of State has decided, consistent with the law, to revoke the
designation of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and its aliases as a Foreign
Terrorist Organization (FTO) under the Immigration and Nationality Act
and to delist the MEK as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under
Executive Order 13224. These actions are effective today. Property and
interests in property in the United States or within the possession or
control of U.S. persons will no longer be blocked, and U.S. entities may
engage in transactions with the MEK without obtaining a license. These
actions will be published in the Federal Register.

With
today's actions, the Department does not overlook or forget the MEK's
past acts of terrorism, including its involvement in the killing of U.S.
citizens in Iran in the 1970s and an attack on U.S. soil in 1992. The
Department also has serious concerns about the MEK as an organization,
particularly with regard to allegations of abuse committed against its
own members.

The Secretary's decision today
took into account the MEK's public renunciation of violence, the
absence of confirmed acts of terrorism by the MEK for more than a
decade, and their cooperation in the peaceful closure of Camp Ashraf,
their historic paramilitary base.

The
United States has consistently maintained a humanitarian interest in
seeking the safe, secure, and humane resolution of the situation at Camp
Ashraf, as well as in supporting the United Nations-led efforts to
relocate eligible former Ashraf residents outside of Iraq.

CNN notes of today's assault, "The rocket and mortar attack occurred at Camp Hurriya, a onetime U.S.
base formerly known as Camp Liberty, which is now the home of the
Iranian exile group Mujahedin-e-Khalq. Accounts of the number of people killed and wounded in the attack vary."

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi called on the US President and the UN Secretary General to immediately return the residents to AshrafAt
05:45 this morning, local time, camp Liberty was attacked with missiles
and mortars. Until now 6 residents including a woman were martyred and
more than 50 people injured. The injured are at critical condition and
the number of martyrs may rise. One of the 6 residents died two hours
after the attack due to delay in transfer to hospital. The names of
martyrs are: Pouran Najafi, Yahya Nazari, Akbar Azizi, Mostafa Khosravi,
Mehdi Abed and Hadi Shafiei.
Aid and ambulances for transfer of injured were not available in the
early hours of the attack. The generator of Iraqi Clinique was also hit
and is not functioning and the electricity has been cut off. Iraq’s
prime ministry has ordered the Iraqi forces to prevent transfer of
injured to hospitals with few vehicles which the residents had brought
to Liberty from Ashraf.During the past year, despite
residents’ insistence and frequent approach to the US and UN officials,
the government of Iraq cruelly prevented transfer of residents’ medical
equipment from Ashraf to Liberty.

Jane Arraf (Al Jazeera) has a video report here. She speaks with the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Iraq, Martin Kobler, who states, "We want to avoid bloodshed and that's why we entered into the agreement with the government of Iraq -- because there was immediate violence in December 2011. That's why I'm so shocked what happened today because these people have to be protected." The United Nations News Centre noted:Camp residents were previously situated at Camp Ashraf in eastern Iraq,
but were relocated last year, in line with an agreement signed in
December 2011 between the UN and the Iraqi Government.“The Secretary-General calls on the Government of Iraq, which is
responsible for the safety and security of residents of both Camp
Liberty and Camp Ashraf, to promptly and fully investigate the incident
and bring perpetrators to justice,” said Mr. Ban's spokesperson in a
statement. “He has repeatedly stated that violence and provocation are
unacceptable.” Mr. Ban also reiterated the UN's strong commitment to continue its
long-standing efforts to facilitate a peaceful and durable solution for
residents of both camps.The High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, expressed his
shock about the attack calling it “a despicable act of violence.”“I call on the Iraqi Government to do everything it can to guarantee
security to the residents,” he said. “The perpetrators must be found and
brought to justice without delay.”In a news release, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said it is closely liaising with the Government on the response to the incident, including medical assistance to the wounded.

Press TV notes, "The United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees said that Camp Liberty should be used as a transit center for
the MKO members to other countries." And here's the UNHCR press release on that:UNHCR Chief Guterres strongly condemns deadly attack on Camp Liberty in Iraq
9 February 2013 – The High Commissioner
for Refugees, António Guterres expresses his shock about this morning's
mortar attack on Camp Liberty in Iraq that reportedly killed six and
wounded dozens.
"I strongly condemn this attack," Mr. Guterres said, noting that the
residents of Camp Liberty are asylum seekers undergoing the refugee
status determination process and thus entitled to international
protection. "This is a despicable act of violence."
"I call on the Iraqi Government to do everything it can to guarantee
security to the residents," he said. "The perpetrators must be found and
brought to justice without delay," he said.
The High Commissioner also calls on all countries to help find urgent solutions for the Camp Liberty residents.
Mr. Guterres expresses his deep condolences to the families of the victims.

Al Jazeera notes that the spokesperson for the European Union has conveyed condemnation for the attack from High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton.

So the United Nations, the European Union . . . Where's the US government?

See, this is why 60 Minutes and others shouldn't do puff pieces. Secretary of State was Hillary Clinton. At least 50% of her job was restoring confidence in the State Dept internally. Starting with Colin Powell's lies, morale at the State Dept took a deep hit and needed to be restored. They needed someone who could restore the image and Hillary did that. She was a political star and she deserves credit for using all of that star power to boost morale and to give the Dept meaning internally. That's why John Kerry is the perfect choice to replace her. He has the tools to build on the restoration she's done. He lacks her star power but so does pretty much everyone else. He does have stature himself, significant stature, and he's known for being methodical. So he will hopefully do a wonderful job of picking up the baton and moving forward on that topic.

But 50% of a job isn't a job. In other areas, Hillary didn't do so well.

That does include Camp Ashraf. She dragged her feet and ignored a court order. Yes, with the approval of the White House but I'm not evaluating them right now, I'm evaluating Hillary. Over a year passed and the courts had to give her another deadline. This one she managed. October 1, 2012 was the new deadline. As we've noted above, September 28th, three days before the deadline, the State Dept finally acted.

Apparently the foot dragging on that was not followed by quick action. As Jane Arraf notes in her report, there's very little effort to welcome the Ashraf residents around the world. The US government gave the Ashraf residents protected status. It is incumbent upon the US government to work to arrange visas for these residents. Some will most likely refuse to leave. Those who turn down a genuine offer are on their own. The US government's extension of protected persons status only extends up to the moment that a way out is presented. If a resident refuses to take the way out, he or she can remain in Iraq where Nouri will most likely deport them to Iran.

The foot dragging by the State Dept and the White House is appalling. Today, the residents were yet again attacked. That can't continue to happen. The residents need to have real offers to leave, real visas. And after that, the US government is done. You can't help someone leave if they choose to stay. You'd think the US government would work quickly on this issue so that they could dispense with their own legal obligations.

And just as I was about to hit "publish" a State Dept friend called to say they had just issued a statement:Press Statement

Victoria NulandDepartment Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

February 9, 2013

The United States condemns in the strongest
terms the vicious and senseless terrorist attack that took place this
morning at Camp Hurriya killing 6 people and injuring dozens more. We
offer our condolences to the families of the victims and hope for the
swift recovery of those who were injured.
We understand the Government of Iraq has undertaken to promptly
investigate the attack. We call on it to earnestly and fully carry out
that investigation and to take all appropriate measures to enhance the
security of the camp consistent with its commitment and obligation to
the safety and security of the camp's residents. The terrorists
responsible for this attack must be brought to justice.
We are consulting with the Government of Iraq and the United Nations
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on the circumstances surrounding
this tragedy, and we remain committed to assisting the Government of
Iraq and UNAMI in their efforts to implement the December 25, 2011
agreement.

You can file it under "better late the never" or you can keep it in the folder marked "foot dragging."

Friday, February 08, 2013

Friday, February 8, 2013. Chaos and violence continue, protests
continue in Iraq, protesters call for an end to tyranny, bombings are condemned, War Criminal Colin Powell
remains in focus, and more.

All week long we've been noting
the 10th anniversary of War Criminal Colin Powell presenting lies to the
United Nation (February 5, 2003) to justify the war on Iraq. Simon Black (Sovereign Man) remembers he was stationed in Kuwait when Powell lied:

It all came crashing down ten years ago today. On February 5, 2003
Colin Powell, four-star general turned US Secretary of State, made a
case to the United Nations that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass
destruction. Now, I won’t bother delving into the inaccuracies of the intelligence
he presented. In Powell’s own words, making that presentation to the UN
was “the lowest point in [his] life” and a “lasting blot on his
record.”For me, it was pivotal. At that instant, I knew without doubt that my
government had reprehensibly lied through its teeth. And if they were
lying about this… what else were they lying about?Everything, it turned out.

Norman
Solomon: I would contend that Powell's speech at the UN was perhaps
the most mendacious speech by a UN diplomat in the last several
decades. And its power was only manifested because, with very few
exceptions, the corporate US mass media fell all over themselves to
praise it as a brilliant tour de force

Janine Jackson: Well a couple of days ago, you debated the man who prepared that UN speech, Colin Powell's former aid Lawrence Wilkerson, on Democracy Now!
and it was fascinating. Even now -- Wilkerson has, I know, renounced
or walked back his feelings on that speech -- but even now, he still
insists, you know, that it's terribly lamentable but we were all wrong.
And when you said, 'No, everyone wasn't wrong. You know, the Institute
for Public Accuracy, Scott Ritter, other folks including FAIR weren't
wrong," Wilkerson's argument in his defense was to say, "When I said
'we,' I meant those in government -- not people like him" -- meaning you
-- "or Scott Ritter or anybody else who were protesting that Iraq
didn't have WMD at the time." That sounds to me like he's saying only
people in government have standing to think about policy or be heard on
policy.

Norman Solomon: The reality was that not only did the
Bush administration and many of their go-to-war allies among Democrats
in Congress ignore the information and critique from Scott Ritter and
Hans von Sponeck and other UN weapons inspectors as well as many
independent progressive media outlets and protesters in the United
States. And they trashed us to be honest and cast all sorts of
aspersions and said that we were ignorant and disloyal and all the rest
of it. So when, ten years later, we have the Chief of Staff for Colin
Powell during the lead up to the war and when it was going on now
telling me on live national television on Democracy Now! that I had
failed to call him and inform him that there were no Weapons of Mass
Destruction in Iraq? I mean, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
It's just I felt that I had been pulled down Alice In Wonderland's
rabbit hole.

Janine Jackson: Yes, exactly. He wouldn't have
listened to you and yet somehow you were meant to alert him to the
realities of the -- of the holes in that evidence. It was a kind of
bizarre line of argument. And it seems as though there's really no
sanction. Not only has being right about Iraq's lack of WMDs not
encouraged journalists to grant legitimacy to those groups that were
right -- they've stayed on the margins -- there really also seems to be
no sanction in journalism for being so wrong about something that was
so devastating and so horrific. And we see that because the same way of
approaching official claims seems to be in place, intact.

Francis
A. Boyle: These were all lies. Everyone knew it at the time. Powell
knew it. Right now, Powell is just shedding some imperial crocodile
tears over his report. Powell aided and abetted a Nuremberg crime
against against peace, against Iraq, for which we unanimously convicted
[former Supreme Court appointee to the US Oval Office Bully Boy] Bush
and [former UK Prime Minister Tony] Blair at the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes
Tribunal. The two of them are international criminals -- Bush, Blair
and I would say Powell too for aiding and abetting. And they should be
apprehended and prosecuted by any state that gets a hold of the three of
them.

Michael Welch: Yes. And it's interesting because the
major media, they held at the time, Mr. Powell -- and I suppose continue
to hold these individuals in high reverence and seem to be just
allowing that meme of "well it was just a mistake" to continue. So is
there --

Francis A. Boyle: Well this is a joke too. This is a
joke too in that it's well known that when he was a Major in Vietnam in
the army, Powell helped cover up the My Lai Massacre. So there's
nothing, I mean this guy was a bootlicker from the beginning -- which
is how he got his position. I think he wanted to work for Al Hague and
then bootlicked his way up the bureaucracy there. So he's been a
sycophant and a boot licker and now a War Criminal.

Iraq has been slammed today with multiple car bombings resulting in what Sinan Salaheddin (AP) calls "the bloodiest day in more than two months" while Duraid Adnan (New York Times) emphasizes that Iraq has "witnessed bombings now on seven consecutive Fridays." CBS and AP count at least 30 dead. BBC News notes over 80 injured, two bombings in Baghdad and two in Hilla. Press TV explains of the Baghdad assualt, "Iraqi security and medical sources
reported that bombings targeted a crowded bird market in the Kadhimiyah
neighborhood of the capital, Baghdad, just after 9:00 a.m. local time
(0600 GMT) on Friday." In another filing, Press TV notes, "Security sources say the first bomb
exploded at the main entrance to the market, and as panicked crowds
tried to flee the area, the second device went off.
" On the Baghdad assault, AFP reports, "Glass and shrapnel was scattered across the scene, an AFP journalist
said, while pools of blood had formed on the ground and a chain-link
fence was badly mangled.
Several nearby cars were completely destroyed, and while passers-by
scanned the wreckage, security forces tried to bar journalists from
interviewing people in the area or taking pictures or videos." Before they were stopped from filming, AFP's Ali al-Saadi and Khalil al-Murshidi filmed this video of the aftermath. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) explains, "That type of market tends to be very busy on Fridays, part of the
weekend in Iraq, and have been targeted in the past by attackers." Hou Qiang (Xinhua) notes, "An official with the local police station told Xinhua on
condition of anonymity that the area is a Shiite Muslim community and
has seen many attacks launched by the Sunni insurgents."

Turning to the Hilla assault, RTE notes, "A further 13 people were killed in two car bomb explosions at a
vegetable market in the Shia city of Hilla, 100km south of Baghdad." Kareem Raheem, Ali al-Rubaie, Suadad al-Salhy, Isabel Coles and Jon Hemming (Reuters) quote
eye witness Habib al-Murshidi stating, "I was shopping when I heard the
first explosion. I was scared and tried to reach my car to run away
but before I got in the second explosion went off. I saw many people,
women and old men lying on the ground which was covered with blood and
scattered fruit and vegetables." All Iraq News reports of the two car bombs that one car was paked in a garage and the other near the market

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq issued the following:Baghdad, 8 February 2013 – Following the series of
bombings that today hit popular and crowded places in Baghdad’s
Khadimiya neighbourhood and in Shomali in Babel province, killing and
injuring dozens of innocent victims, the Special Representative of the
United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG) Martin Kobler said that
“perpetrators of these heinous and horrible acts are ruthless criminals
whose sole goal is to push the country back to sectarian violence”.
The
SRSG appealed to the Iraqi leaders to unite and work together in order
to stop once and for all the language of violence from spreading. “It is
their duty and responsibility to sit together to see what can be put in
place to stop this heinous, horrible violence,” he added. “It is the
duty of the Iraqi leaders to find a solution to the current political
stalemate in the country.”

Ken Hanly (Digital Journal) quotes
Omar al-Faruq stating, "I have been here for 45 days waiting for my
dream to become a reality. I dream that Maliki will be tried, the same
way as Saddam." He was protesting in Ramadi and he is only one of the
many protesters taking to the streets of late. Iraqi Spring shares photos of the Ramadi protest.

Alsumaria notes
that Anbar Province demonstrators have condemned the bombing and are
calling for the government to implement their demands or resign. Al-Shorfa adds that the spokesperson for the Mosul protesters, Ghanem al-Abd, also condemned the attacks. World Bulletin explains,
"Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is facing mass protests by
disenchanted
Sunni Muslims and is at loggerheads with ethnic Kurds who run their
northern region autonomously from Baghdad." For the seventh week,
protests continue in Iraq with today being dubbed "NO to the Tyrannical
Ruler." Morning Star quotes
Samarra's Sheik Mohammed Jumaa declaring, "Stop tyranny and
oppression. We want our rights. You will witness what other tyrants
have witnessed before you." Kitabat reports
protests today in Anbar, Mosul, Salahuddin, Kirkuk, Diyala and Baghdad
and that protesters are calling Nouri the Pharaoh of Iraq (it's not a
compliment) and noting that his State of Law didn't win the 2010
parliamentary elections but he used the Erbil Agreement to grab the post
of prime minister then disregarded the partnership agreement. Najaf
demonstrators called this morning for Article IV of the Constitution to
be gutted ('terrorists' arrests -- if you can't find your suspect,
arrest a relative). Alsumaria notes
"hundreds" demonstrating in Kirkuk and demanding that Nouri's
government resign if they are unable to meet the demands of the
protesters. Sinan Salaheddin (AP) notes protesters in Falluja and Ramadi again "blocked the main highway to Jordan." On the Ramadi protests, Omar al-Shaher (Al-Monitor) reports:

Amid the clamor caused by the ongoing protests in
Anbar province in western Iraq, which are nearing their 50th
day, demonstrators have pitched huge tents and blocked traffic on the
highway linking Iraq to Jordan and Syria. The protest organizers said
that the main square was attracting a million people each Friday,
including many participants from thousands of miles away, who require
food and a place to sleep.
On one such Friday, 200 sheep were slaughtered to provide demonstrators
with food. On another Friday, ​​the city of Hit, located 50 miles west
of Ramadi, served demonstrators 2,000 dishes of meat and rice for lunch.
The demonstration’s organizers said that Friday lunch meals can cost
upwards of $60,000.
Qusay Zain, a spokesman for the protest, said that tribal leaders in
Ramadi compete to serve lunch to protesters, despite the exorbitant
costs. "This time, many tribal leaders in Anbar have taken honorable
stances,” he said.

Eighteen days of protests in Egypt in 2011 electrified the world. But more than twice that many days of protest in Iraq have gone almost unnoticed in the United States. Iraqi army troops killed five Sunni protesters in Fallujah on Jan. 25, after a month of anti-government protests in
Anbar, Nineveh and Salahuddin provinces and elsewhere for which
thousands turned out. Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Iranian-backed Shiite
militias are re-mobilizing. Iraq teeters on the brink of renewed
insurgency and, potentially, civil war.This crisis matters for America. U.S. vital interests that have been
undermined over the past year include preventing Iraq from becoming a
haven for al-Qaeda and destabilizing the region by becoming a security
vacuum or a dictatorship that inflames sectarian civil war; containing
Iranian influence in the region; and ensuring the free flow of oil to
the global market.While tensions have risen over the past two years, the triggers for
recent eruptions are clear. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite,
had the bodyguards of Finance Minister Rafie al-Issawi, who is Sunni, arrested for
alleged terrorist activities on Dec. 20 — almost exactly one year after
he ordered the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tariq
al-Hashimi’ssecurity detail. Hashimi fled to Turkey and is unlikely to
return soon to Iraq, where he was sentenced to death after Maliki
demanded his trial in absentia for murder and financing terrorism.The threat to Issawi, a moderate technocrat from Anbar, galvanized
Iraqi Sunnis, who rightly saw Maliki’s move as sectarian and an assault
on government participation by Sunnis not under the prime minister’s
thumb. Three days after the arrests, demonstrations broke out in Ramadi,
Fallujah and Samarra. Three days after that, a large protest closed the highwayfrom Baghdad to Syria and Jordan. The popular resistance spread to Mosul on Dec. 27.

Murray Discusses Challenges for Military Spouses at Symposium in Tacoma(Washington,
D.C.) -- Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) discussed employment
challenges and opportunities for military spouses at the 2013 Military
Officers Association of America's Military Spouse Symposium in Tacoma.
The event, titled "Keeping a Career on the Move," brought service
members, veterans, and military spouses together with local business
experts and employers. Senator Murray's remarks focused on the
challenges that military spouses face to support their loved ones and
her personal experiences from growing up in a military family. As the
former Chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Senator
Murray is a leader in Washington on issues to service members, veterans
and their families. The full text of Senator Murray's speech follows:

Thank you Admiral Ryan for that kind introduction.

“I’m so pleased to be here today as part of
this important event, and I have to say that it is so great to see that so many
of you came out today to access the resources, advice, and experts that MOAA has
made available to help you all in what I know can be trying times.

“So of course I
want to thank MOAA and all the people who have volunteered their time and energy
to make this event possible.

“But first and
foremost, I want to thank all of you.

“Now, often
times when I thank the spouses of service members I get the same modest answers
back.

“So I do want
to start by thanking all of you for the unprecedented sacrifices that you – and
all military spouses – have made over the last decade.

“Thank you for
picking up and moving your family – time and time again – in every corner of the
country in order to be with your loved one.

“Thank you for
braving the uncertainty that every new day brings when a spouse is in harm’s
way.

“Thank you for
not only being Mom or Dad - but for sometimes being either, or both, when the
situation calls for it.

“Thank you for
juggling schedules, and practices, and homework when there is so little time in
the day, and for making ends meet when money is tight.

“And finally
thank you for being courageous enough, and self-assured enough to ask for help
when you need it.

“For coming to
an event like this to figure out how the country that your family is sacrificing
for can help provide you with the skills and training to find work or to get
into school.

“I know it’s
not easy.

“But I also
know from my own life that reaching out can really pay off in the long
run.

“As some of you
may know, I grew up in a military family.

“My father
fought in World War II, was one of the first on the beaches of Okinawa, received
a Purple Heart, and came home from war to start a big family in Bothell.

“Growing up, I
was not only a twin, but I was one of seven children…..

“So as you can
imagine, personal space among us kids was a concept we didn’t quite grasp.

“But we were a
close family - not only because we slept and ate elbow-to-elbow - but also
because we were a loving family that had food on the table and lived a
relatively secure life.

“But when I was
15, things for my family changed.

“My father, who
had up until that point run a five and dime store on Main Street in Bothell,
fell ill, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and within a few short years he
could no longer work.

“Suddenly
everything fell to my mother.

“My mother who
now found herself with 7 children, a husband whose medical bills were mounting,
and very few of the skills she needed to go out and find a job that would
actually pay her well enough to support our family.

“For a little
while we relied on food stamps.

“For even
longer my siblings and I thought there was no way we would be able to leave our
family and go off to college.

“But my mother
was brave enough to reach out for help – and thankfully the country her husband
had sacrificed for was there to answer her calls.

“Through a
program established by the federal government my mom was able to enroll in
courses at Lake Washington Vocational School where she got a two year degree in
accounting that helped her find work that would support our
family.

“It allowed us
get back on our feet.

“It got us
through a very difficult time.

“And because
that support was there for my mom and for our family, today those seven kids
have grown up to be a school teacher, a lawyer, a homemaker, a computer
programmer, a sports writer, a firefighter, and a US Senator.

“So these days,
whenever I talk to military spouses - who not only faces similar difficulties,
but who also must constantly worry about the safety of their loved
one.

“It forces me
to ask – are we as a nation there for today’s families the way we were there for
mine?

“What are we
doing to keep today’s military spouses and their children above
water?

“The answer is
that we are doing some, but not nearly enough.

“I’m happy that
in recent years we have expanded many of our employment efforts so that they
don’t just focus on veterans and active-duty military members, but also on
military spouses.

“In some
instances this has worked well.

“We have seen
many spouses take advantage of the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, an
Army program that works with Fortune 500 companies that pledge to hire ourmilitary spouses.

“And now that
we have expanded it to the spouses of servicemembers in the Air Force, Navy, and
Marines - it is having an even greater impact.

“We have also
seen spouses utilize the Military Spouse Career Center which has centralized
many important resources online.

“But for
other programs, like the Transition Assistance Program that I helped expand, we
still have to get the word out that military spouses can also take advantage of
the training program.

“And for other
federal programs like MyCAA we have been able to attract many military spouses,
only to see the government cut back benefits because of limited resources.

“So the truth
is that our response to the hardships and the unique situation that you all find
yourselves in has been uneven at best.

“And there are
still many things that can be done.

“For one, I
believe that we need to do a better job of reaching out to corporate America on
the benefits of hiring military spouses.

“We talk a lot
about, and I authored legislation on, how to help employers understand the
skills your spouses gained through their military service.

“But we also
have to do more to help them understand what you bring to the table.

“Like your
spouses, you are all used to the sacrifices and compromises that come with being
a team player, you understand hard work and the day-to-day discipline it takes
to succeed both at home and on the job, and importantly, you are resilient and
resourceful in ways that I’m sure few other job candidates are.

“These are
qualities we have to get across to companies large and small.

“Second, we
need to do more to provide opportunities and support for the children of
military families.

“One area that
I have been working on is in helping military families with children who have
disabilities.

“Believe it or
not, today many of the behavioral therapies for children with autism, Down
syndrome, and other disabilities are not covered by TRICARE. I’m fighting to
change that.

“I’m also
working to ensure that school districts like the ones here in the Tacoma area
that are at a disadvantage because they are on or near federal land – and don’t
have the tax base that other schools have – get the support they need.

“Over the
years, I have worked to get millions for the Clover Park school district here
which has faced these challenges and has been affected by steep declines in
enrollment due to parents moving and long-deployments.

“These school
districts are in every part of the country – and they need federal support.

“And finally,
we need to offer more opportunities like this one today.

“Opportunities
for you to join with your peers to swap stories about everything from help
wanted ads to help finding a babysitter.

“And to meet
with experts on how you can translate your diverse and sometimes even
disorganized work history into a resume that will get noticed.

“To learn more
about interview techniques and tips.

“To hear about
workforce training programs and the skills needed to find a job in the in-demand
careers in your communities.

“And to come
together the way only our nation’s military community can to ensure that
everyone has someone to lean on.

“I applaud you
all again for your determination to keep your families and your careers going in
what are often difficult days.

“And I promise
all of you that I will continue to fight for federal programs that help military
spouses, that create opportunities for you to succeed, and that ensure that we
as a nation are there for you and your family, just like it was there for my own
family.

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.